Did Wife Of White House Leaker Ezra Cohen-Watnick Work To Burnish Russia’s Image?

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A pair of American genealogists believe they’ve found information linking the wife of White House staffer Ezra Cohen-Watnick with pro-Russian advocacy in the U.S.
After learning of Cohen-Watnick’s alleged involvement in providing Republican Devin Nunes with information showing members of the Trump transition team had shown up in secret intelligence reports, genealogists Renee Stern Steinig and Randol Schoenberg, decided to look through some family trees to learn more about Cohen-Watnick.
They stumbled upon an oral testimony of Vicki Fraser, mother of Cohen-Watnick’s wife Rebecca Miller. In it, the proud mother states that Rebecca “works for Ketchum, a PR and marketing firm in Washington, D.C.” and adds that her “biggest challenge” at work is “to try to make Russia look better which is particularly difficult when they’re invading other countries and when Putin is somewhat out of control.”
The testimony was given in 2014. The Forward could not independently verify the information relating to Rebecca Miller.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
